Buckhead Paws began in 2007 when a young woman named Natasha rented a private apartment from a man in Brookhaven, and he discounted her rent in exchange for taking care of his dog. Soon, that guy had a friend who needed help with his dog, and then that guy had a friend who needed pet care, and, suddenly: Voila! Buckhead Paws was born.
By 2009, Natasha had married, was expecting their first child, and moving to Marietta for her husband’s job. Just before their move, she and her husband had dinner with friends, and she was bemoaning the fact that she was going to have to close her small pet services business, since she was doing it on her own. As luck would have it, the friends they were eating with were also friends of Mark’s, and they said to Natasha, “Well, you know, we have this friend . . . he’s semi-retired, he has gray hair, and he likes kids and critters. Perhaps he could help you out.”
Natasha and Mark soon met for coffee, and hit it off immediately. She moved to Marietta and handled billing and website inquiries, and Mark took over the eight or so clients. And Buckhead Paws began to grow. Six months later, he had to get a friend to help, because there were too many new clients. And six months after that, a second friend joined the team.
In late 2011, Natasha told Mark she was expecting baby #2, and didn’t have time to run the business from Marietta – she wondered if Mark would like to buy it? So, on February 1, 2012, they closed the sale, and Mark became the proud, happy new owner of Buckhead Paws!
Since that time, the company has continued to grow. Our team of dog walkers and pet sitters are all covered under our bond and liability insurance, and all have had criminal background checks. And today the service area includes Buckhead, Brookhaven, Chamblee, Decatur, Dunwoody, all the Intown Neighborhoods, Midtown, Sandy Springs, Smyrna, Vinings and all points in between.
Hi, I’m Mark Shaver, owner of Buckhead Paws, and pets have been a part of my life since before I could walk. Over the years, I have shared my space with quite the collection of critters, including dogs, cats, tropical fish, pet rats, lizards, and even a couple of chinchillas.
I spent 25 years as a corporate executive with Coca-Cola, Baskin Robbins, and RJ Reynolds Tobacco – and 15 of those years were spent overseas, living and working in Korea, Pakistan, and Russia. In 2004, I returned to the States, settling here in Atlanta.
In 2009, I put my love for animals to work and joined Buckhead Paws. Then, after two years of providing care for our 4-legged clients and building relationships with our 2-legged clients, I found that I loved the pets, the clients and the business so much, I bought the company!
I am a member of Pet Sitters International and the Georgia Network of Professional Pet Sitters. I am also certified in pet first aid.
The pet in my life is Gigi, a beautiful Norwegian Forest Cat I bought in Moscow in 1999 for the exorbitant price of 10 roubles (35 cents!). Finally, I am the very proud parent of three adult children and have two beautiful granddaughters.
